The vitreous humor, or vitreous, is a semi-solid material having a gel-like consistency that fills the vitreous cavity, which is approximately the space in the eye between the lens and the retina. Surgical removal of the vitreous, vitrectomy, is sometimes necessary in order to treat certain medical diseases and/or dysfunctions of the eye. Typically, a vitrectomy involves the removal of the vitreous humor using mechanical instrumentation to detach and aspirate the vitreous from the eye while simultaneously replacing the removed vitreous with a sterile material such as a saline solution to prevent collapse of the eye.
One difficulty in performing a vitrectomy is that the vitreous consistency is often so viscous as to make the removal difficult, even with the use of mechanical suction or cutting. This is particularly true when using modem microsurgical vitreous instrumentation, such as that smaller than 20 gauge. It may be desirable to use small gauge instrumentation whenever possible during ophthalmic surgery in order to avoid mechanical damage to ocular tissues. However, small gauge instrumentation is easily clogged by the vitreous gel, resulting in traction on the retina which leads to the possibility of tearing or other retinal damage. This, of course, is highly undesirable since such damage may compromise the patient's visual outcome following vitrectomy.
Thus, there exists a need for a process to liquefy and reduce the viscosity of the vitreous body so that a vitrectomy can be performed in a safer and more reproducible manner.